Amusingly, I actually got messaged by some woman who believes in this silliness. Apparently she got annoyed with me trolling and laughing at her friends or something.
Here's the message history for the lulz. I do this in hopes of demonstrating a very funny pseudoscience and how to refute it. (about as difficult as breathing)
Her: "And your doctorate is in what?"
Me: "Lol Don't have one. You don't need a doctorate to understand high school biology."
(and my GOD this is priceless)
Her: "I do not communicate with beings who lack common sense or an education.
I live in brash estate, haul in an enormous income, shop at the finest boutiques, dine at the most exclusive eateries, and my college education (MBA and two degrees in international studies) is Paid in Full.
The insurance premiums alone on my luxury vehicles is enough to pay your rent for two years.This is not to put you down. But I don't entertain ignorance. Plain and simple."
(seriously wtf?)
Me:" I do not communicate with beings who lack common sense or an education."
Ok......
"I live in brash estate, haul in an enormous income, shop at the finest boutiques, dine at the most exclusive eateries, and my college education (MBA and two degrees in international studies) is Paid in Full."
I applaud your completely unverifiable claims to a extremely comfortable. I fail to see the relevance.
" The insurance premiums alone on my luxury vehicles is enough to pay your rent for two years."
Fascinating and utterly unverifiable. Also I am going to point out that you have no idea what I pay in rent.
"This is not to put you down."
True. But it seems completely pointless......
"But I don't entertain ignorance. Plain and simple."
That is interesting. Therefore, why would you support such a silly cause such as the Melanin Theory, which is itself utterly divorced from any familiarity with biochemistry?
If you make that much money, you can certainly afford to purchase a physiology textbook and read on the basics.
Or here, I'll just copy it out for you.
Martini and Nath. Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology. Eighth Edition, Pearson Benjamin Cummings. 2009, San Francisco, CA, USA.
"Melanin is a brown, yellow-brown, or black pigment produced by melanocytes, pigment cells introduced in chapter 4. The melanocytes involved are located in the stratum germinativum, squeezed between or deep to the epithelial cells. Melanocytes manufacture melanin from the amino acid Tyrosine, and package it in intracellular vesicles called melanosomes. These vesicles travel within the processes of melanocytes and are transferred intact to keratinocytes. The transfer of pigmentation colors the keratinocyte temporarily, until the melanosomes are destroyed by fusion with lysosomes. In individuals with pale skin, this transfer occurs in the stratum germinativum and stratum spinosum and the cells of more superficial layers lose their pigmentation. In dark-skinned people, the melanosomes are larger and the transfer may occur in the stratum granulosum as well; skin pigmentation is thus darker and more persistant."
So there goes the silly "melanin from the Pineal gland" claim
Also,
"The posterior portion of the epithalamus contains the pineal gland, and endocrine structure that secretes the hormone melatonin. Melatonin is important in the regulation of day-night cycles and also in the regulation of reproductive functions."
And I'm afraid white people are not albinos
"The differences in skin pigmentations among individuals do not reflect different numbers of melanocytes, but merely different levels of synthetic activity. Even the melanocytes of albino individuals are distributed normally, although the cells are incapable of producing melanin."
Melanin does not give magic powers
"The melanin in keratinocytes protects your epidermis and dermis from the harmful effects of sunlight, which contains significant amounts of ultraviolet radiation. A small amount of UV radiation is beneficial, because it stimulates the epidermal production of a compound required for calcium ion homeostasis. However, UV radiation can also damage DNA, causing mutations and promoting the development of cancer. Within keratinocytes, melanosomes become concentrated in the region around the nucleus, where the melanin pigments act like a sunshade to provide some UV protection for the DNA in those cells."
Melanin is not a superconductor. It is a semiconductor.
Structural, electrical, electronic and optical properties of melanin films. M Abbas et al. The European Physical Journal E: Soft Matter and Biological Physics, 28 (3). March 2009, pp 285-291.
"We present thick, uniform and rather flat melanin films obtained using spray deposition. The morphology of the films was investigated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Temperature-dependent electrical resistance of melanin thin films evidenced a semiconductor-like character and a hysteretic behavior linked to an irreversible process of water molecule desorption from the melanin film. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was carried out to analyze the role of the functional groups in the primary and secondary structure of the macromolecule, showing that the contribution of the 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) subunit to the molecule is about 35%. Comparison of the optical absorption of the thick (800nm) and thin (80nm) films showed a spectral change when the thickness increases. From in vacuum photoconductivity (PC) measured at controlled temperatures, we suggest that the melanin films exhibit a possible charge transport mechanism by means of delocalized $ \pi$ states along the stacked planar secondary structure. "
Since you are educated, communicate with those with common sense and an education and dislike ignorance, I imagine you will have an appreciation for actual science, which is quite refreshing after all those silly people on the video comments."
Her: " I didn't have time to read your book. Perhaps you should write one for your audience. I'm not a fan."
(Here my response seems to have gone missing. Something to the extent that it was unfortunate that she was as stupid as the rest of them or something)
Her: "No matter what you deny or your miseducated theory is, white people do not possess Melanin.They are recessive creatures. According to ancient biblical documents, they were genetically created by the devil who wanted his own race. Do your research? Not on Youtube and Google. Visit ancient cities and study ancient documents. Otherwise, you don't know shit but what's been passed on by others who were also miseducated."
meh, and my latest reply which was something on how I'd already refuted that, and I found it annoying when people repeated refuted claims. I acknowledged that racists usually aren't that well educated, but encouraged her to at least make an attempt to understand the biology I cited for her.
Here she is.
http://www.youtube.com/user/BlackmatterX